Expression of heme oxygenase-1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and mechanism of oxidative stress in diabetic nephropathy

Objective To investigate the relationship and mechanism of the heme oxygenase-1 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and the oxidative stress in diabetic nephropathy. Methods Two groups of diabetic patients with or without diabetic nephropathy and a normal control group were enrolled in this study. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c, serum MDA level, ROS level, HO-1 mRNA level and HO-1 protein expression in PBMC were determined. Results In control group, diabetic group and diabetic nephropathy group , the MDA levels significantly increased[(14.23±5.07)nmol/ml vs (24.90±7.12)nmol/ml vs (43.83±16.97)nmol/ml](F＝37.022,P＜0.01), the ROS levels significantly increased (113.18±58.59 vs 364.54±88.67 vs 524.35±162.51)(F＝68.369,P＜0.01) and the HO-1 protein expression also increased significantly (22.84±9.98 vs 36.72±15.85 vs 58.1±15.93)(F＝31.302,P＜0.01). There was a positive correlation among the HO-1 mRNA, protein expression and MDA level(r＝0.407,0.429,P＜0.05). Conclusions There existed a severer oxidative stress condition in patients with diabetic nephropathy compared with the patients without diabetic nephropathy. HO-1 could be a potential pathway to ameliorate oxidative stress in diabetic kidney disease patients. Key words: Monocytes/ME; Heme oxygenase-1/ME ; Diabetic nephropathies/ME; Oxidative stress